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VANCOUVER — The late B.C. Lions president Bob Ackles spent more than 50 years in the football business, including significant stints as an executive with the Dallas Cowboys, Phoenix Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles and Miami Dolphins.

But talk of the NFL coming to Canada “scares me as a CFL fan. I’m just telling you, it will kill the CFL,” Ackles stated in his autobiography, The Water Boy.

He mainly was talking about NFL expansion to Canada, specifically Toronto, not necessarily a pre-season or even a one-off league game as the Buffalo Bills do on an annual basis at Rogers Centre in partnership with Rogers Communications.

Still, the NFL’s popularity is growing in Canada, especially in B.C. According to a survey undertaken by NFL International, the percentage of Canadian sports fans who claim they are “very interested” in the NFL is placed at 29 per cent in this province, compared to 23 per cent on the Prairies and just 20 per cent in, of all places, Toronto. The sample survey encompasses the 13-64 age range, male and female, and cuts across a wide demographic.

The Seattle Seahawks, in particular, regard British Columbia, Alberta, Idaho, Oregon, Alaska and, naturally, Washington as part of their territory of influence as the NFL team whose reach spans the greatest geographical area.

Tod Leiweke, a former Seahawks president and executive with Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment in Vancouver, was particularly keen to link the Lower Mainland into the Seahawks constituency while mindful of the CFL and the Lions’ unique place in West Coast culture and history.

This week, the annual Seahawks caravan pulls into Vancouver to remind football fans that the NFL season will soon be upon us, with the start of training camps set to open on July 27.

Pro Bowl safety Kam Chancellor, cornerback Richard Sherman, the Sea Gals cheerleading/dance team and Blitz, the team’s blue-feathered mascot who wears No. Zero, will be part of a three-day, um, blitz of the Lower Mainland to promote the Seahawk brand.

Chancellor and Sherman will be making a surprise visit Thursday to present a plaque — the 12th Man North Award — and a Seahawks jersey to a deserving individual who has done much to promote football in the province. The recipient’s identity is a secret — but not the presence of the Seahawks, who have a sponsors’ golf tournament scheduled Friday morning at the University Golf Club, a pub night that same evening at Mahony and Sons, an establishment on Burrard Landing that promotes NFL games, and a free football clinic Saturday morning for kids aged 7-14 at Vancouver College.

The clinic includes Lions alumni, Leo, the team mascot, and the Felions dance team, who will partner with the Sea Gals in a cheerleading clinic.

“It’s a celebration of football, and growing the game of football,” explained Lions president Dennis Skulsky. “We have many fans who are both NFL and CFL fans. That’s always going to be the case. But I think the percentage of fans who drive to Seattle, versus going to a Lions game, is very small. To their [Seahawks] credit, they always advise us of their plans. This is quite different than the Bills playing a game in Toronto. If we were talking about the Seahawks coming to play an NFL game here … I’m not for that. I wouldn’t support that. Not even a pre-season game. We’re in the sports/entertainment business together. They have their territory. We have ours.”

The Seahawks last appeared at BC Place Stadium 14 years ago, when they played a pre-season game against the San Francisco 49ers — the American Bowl — promoted by Lions owner David Braley.

The idea of a regular-season contest is even more unlikely, given that the Hawks have sold out 67,000-seat CenturyLink Field on a regular basis for several seasons. The current streak stands at 52 games.

Still, that hasn’t kept Seattle from promoting its Canadian connection. Three home games this season will involve the “Canadian Embassy,” a private “tailgate” party in the CenturyLink events centre specifically set aside for contest winners, sponsors, media and corporate partners from the Great Wet North.

The Oct. 14 game against the New England Patriots is also being recognized as “Canada Day” at CenturyLink, with youth football teams and marching bands from British Columbia taking part, O Canada on the anthem sheet and the Maple Leaf flag raised along with the stars and stripes.

It’s not as if the Seahawks are trying to promote a lame date on their schedule. This is Tom Brady and the Super Bowl-contending Patriots, after all, not the Jaguars or Browns.

“It will probably be the toughest ticket in town, but they [Seahawks] always surprise me because of their commitment to Canada,” said Omar Mawjee, general manager of the Seahawks’ regional marketing office. “When our office started, it was a whole different era. They were trying to fill empty seats. Now, it’s because Vancouver is part of the Seahawks‘ large geographic footprint … and we do focus a lot of our resources there.”

Seahawks or Lions, CFL or NFL? It may time to recognize that one can be a fan of both.

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